Dr Du Yong, President of North Sichuan Medical College, China, has invited universities in Ghana for medical and cultural cooperation.

He said such partnerships would promote health education between Ghana and China and enhance bilateral relations with both countries.

Dr. Yong said this when he interacted with media professionals from Ghana on a month's study tour of China.

He said the two countries could explore opportunities in students' and lecturers' exchange programmes and information sharing to fight common diseases and improve the health of their people.

"Medical issues have no boundaries. We need each other to advance in medicine."

Dr. Yong said Sichuan Medical College started enrolling foreign students in 2005 and trained 30 Ghanaian medical practitioners, including three postgraduate students, with six out of its current eleven foreign students being Ghanaians.

He said the College was poised to leverage on international education to strengthen China/Africa relation in "win-win" cooperation in line with the recently held Forum of China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China.

Mr Kofi Ohene Benning, Acting Head, Human Resource, Ministry of Information, who led the media professionals’ team, commended the College for the foresight and advised the Ghanaian students to be law abiding and return home after their studies to work.

The Ghanaian media team, after series of seminars, visited Chinese media houses and tourist sites including the Hua Shan Mountain Guerrilla sites, Linshui Grand Canyon, the Tianfu Exhibition Hall, the Ten Thousand Book Tower, and the Nanchong Silk Museum.

The team is also scheduled to visit the Langzhong Old Town, Tiangong Garden- Luo Xiahong Theme Park and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Professor Li Hengtian, Deputy Director, China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration's Training Center, said the professional media-training programme was a "bridge for friendship and cooperation" between Ghana and China.

He said the study tour, organized by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) aimed at providing a platform for communication and discussion to enhance traditional friendship between Ghana and China to promote human resource and socioeconomic development.

Prof. Hengtian said the visit to Sichuan was for the team to appreciate the rapid development of that province.